


In Sickness and in Health

by MidStarlight



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Cuddling, Fluff, Fontcest, Incest, M/M, Oneshot, Sick!Sans, a happy story for once, already established relationship, caring!papyrus, healthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 01:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7133651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidStarlight/pseuds/MidStarlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans gets sick, and Papyrus obviously has no choice but to take care of his boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Sickness and in Health

**Author's Note:**

> That moment when your other fic only has angst in it, so you write a fluffy oneshot haha. 
> 
> I actually got sick about a week ago, so I wanted my favorite characters to suffer along with me XD. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story!

Sans took a deep breath in, but he immediately regretted that decision as it felt like the air was cutting through his throat. His first instinct was to swallow and try to soothe the burning, but swallowing proved to be as painful as breathing. Instead, he tried breathing through his nasal aperture, but he found that it was somehow clogged. Sans attempted to sniffle away the problem which just resulted in mucus clogging up his throat, and he choked, provoking a terrible coughing fit.

Once he was sure his throat was destroyed and he wanted to kill himself, the skeleton propped himself up on his mattress using his elbow. Almost instantly, his head gave a huge throb, and Sans gave a miserable groan which was promptly cutoff when his throat lit itself on fire again. He used his other hand to hold his pounding head, and he realized that he had a raging fever.

 _"well, isn't this fan-fucking-tastic,"_ he groused with a scowl on his face.

He would've rolled over and gone back to sleep, but the searing pain in his throat stopped him. It felt like he had just swallowed some sandpaper followed by some salt, so it was understandable that he wanted the pain gone as soon as possible. _"maybe some water'll help me,"_ Sans thought, slowly getting up and off his old mattress despite his intense headache.

Violent shivers ran up and down his body, rattling his bones despite how hot his forehead felt. Sans crossed his arms and rubbed his humeri in an attempt to warm himself up, and he then bent over and grabbed his jacket off the floor. Still shivering, he zipped it up all the way and stuffed his hands in the pockets.

Shuffling over to the doorknob, Sans slowly opened the door to see that Papyrus wasn't downstairs. "what? papyrus never sleeps in," he muttered confusedly. However, he immediately grimaced at the terrible burning sansation it spurred on. _"alright, talking is bad. got it."_

Suspiciously, he turned around to look out his window, only to realize that it was still dark outside. He gazed at the alarm clock on his dresser that read 3:37 AM. _"ugh, you've gotta be kidding me,"_ he complained, rubbing at his eye sockets tiredly. _"whelp. i should at least get some water before heading back to sleep,"_ he decided decisively.

Walking back over to the door, he walked through it and towards the stairs. Sans felt his head give another strong throb, and he gripped the railing in support. It gave a loud creak, and Sans winced before loosening his grip. _"i've gotta be careful not to wake boss up. he's got this big meeting he's been stressing about, and i don't want to interrupt his sleep. stars knows he hasn't been getting much this week."_

One step at a time, Sans slowly made his way down the stairs before finally arriving at the bottom. He shuffled into the kitchen, and he grabbed a cup from the cabinet. Then, he levitated it up and moved the tap, so he could get some water. _"damn sink,"_ he grumbled in his head.

Sans tipped his head back and started greedily gulping down the water. While he originally thought that this was a good idea, once he took his first big swallow, he very nearly started hacking again. Stopping, he decided to take much slower sips this time. Only seconds later, the water was gone, and Sans used his magic to repeat the process of filling the cup up. While he was waiting, the dryness in his throat came back, and he nearly let out a groan of disappointment.

He summoned the now full glass of water back into his waiting hand, and he began drinking it again. After he finished it, he gave a soft sigh. He didn't seem to be making much progress. An idea came to him, and he almost face-palmed at his stupidity. _"well, duh. i just need to take some medicine, and i'll be good as new."_ That being said, he put the cup on the counter, but he paused once he realized that he didn't know where the medicine actually was.

The sentry searched the cabinets first, but he couldn't find a single bottle with medicine of any kind on it. _"hmm... do we even have medicine? monsters don't usually get sick often, so it would make sense if we don't have any."_ Understanding that this meant he would have to deal with being miserable all day, Sans rubbed his temples to try to relieve some stress. There was always the option of telling Papyrus about him being sick, but there was no way in hell he was doing that. _"papyrus has a really important meeting that he's been preparing for all week, and i won't ask him to cancel it just because i'm too weak to handle a little cold,"_ he thought determinedly, _"i'll just have to tough it out until it goes away."_

Making his mind up, he decided to head back to bed and try to go back to sleep. He made his way out of the kitchen, and he carefully crept up the stairs, each creak feeling like it would be the one to wake his brother up.

When he finally made it up the stairs, he cautiously walked by Papyrus's door before rushing into his room and slowly closing the door.

Sans made his way over to his worn mattress and practically collapsed onto it, jacket and all, and even though he was wearing his coat, he was still rattling like a maraca. He wanted to curl under his sheets, but they were bundled up into a ball on top of his mattress. He briefly contemplated trying to fall asleep just like he was, but his shivering motivated him to actually attempt to untangle the sheets.

Giving up halfway through, he opted to just work his way into the sheets, so he buried himself in the mound of them. Sans curled up in a ball, effectively surrounding himself with the sheets, yet he was still cold.

Closing his sockets, he tried to relax and fall back asleep. After several minutes of laying there, exhaustion finally began to take its toll on him, and he felt his consciousness slipping away.

 

* * *

 

"SANS! GET UP!"

Said skeleton woke up gradually, and it took him to remember what happened earlier that morning. The overall shitty feeling was also helping him remember.

_"right. gotta act like everything's okay."_

Readying himself for the fire that was about to consume his throat, Sans got out from his nest of sheets, cleared his throat, and yelled, "be right there, boss!"

He quickly covered his mouth with his jacket sleeve as he hacked up a lung or two, and he immediately regretted his decision to yell back at all. _"but if i stayed quiet, boss might suspect that something is wrong with me,"_ he reasoned over his constant coughing.

Reluctantly, he dragged the rest of his body out of the sheets and rolled off the mattress. Slowly getting up, Sans dragged his feet out the door and down the hall. He took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders slightly. He had to look like he wasn't sick. Careful to look tired but not exhausted, he made his way downstairs and into the kitchen.

Papyrus was standing by the stove, cooking some spaghetti when he huffed, "Took you long enough."

"sorry, boss," Sans replied, keeping his expression blank despite the burning in his throat talking caused.

"You're such a lazy-ass," his brother snapped, but Sans could tell that it lacked its usual bite.

Despite how shitty he felt, Sans cracked a grin, anyway. Ever since they started dating, things between them had been going pretty well. They rarely fought, if ever, and life was so much less stressful now that he had someone he could rely on. In short, things were going pretty good. Well, until today.

Sans's thoughts were interrupted as Papyrus put the bowls of spaghetti down with a soft "clink". He turned the heat off, put the pot away, and he picked up his bowl before hurriedly walking out of the kitchen, eating as he went.

"um, boss?" Sans questioned, allowing himself a grimace at the sting in his throat behind his brother's back.

"I want to go in early and prepare for the meeting with Undyne," Papyrus called over his back once he had finished chewing. With that, he walked out the door, closing it behind him, and walked into the snow.

 _"well, at least he didn't notice that anything is wrong with me,"_ Sans thought.

He took the bowl of pasta off the counter and walked into the living room, sitting on the couch. As he was eating, he grabbed the remote and aimlessly flipped through the channels, finally settling on Mettaton's newest show.

_"he is kind of entertaining. in an 'i-can't-believe-people-actually-watch-this' sort of way."_

Sans finished his breakfast spaghetti and turned the show off. He used his magic to levitate the bowl and fork over to the sink because hey, why not?

 _"i should probably go to work. just incase someone happens to walk by one of my stations, and i'm not there. then they might report back to my brother,"_ he thought as he reluctantly got up from the couch with a tired sigh.

His already painful headache grew stronger as he stood up, and the throbbing was enough to make him want to sit down again and never stand back up. However, Sans knew that if he didn't go, Papyrus might get worried, though he'd never really show it, and stay home; thus, missing his important meeting. _"it's for papyrus,"_ he reminded himself, trudging towards the front door.

Cracking it open, he walked outside, zipped his jacket up, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Just being outside for two seconds had his shivering increasing to full-blown shaking. He could actually hear his bones rattling despite the loud wind blowing around him.

_"this is going to be a long fucking day..."_

 

* * *

 

Two more hours. All he had to do was tough it out for two more hours.

Sans was currently at his sentry station in Hotland. He had teleported there hoping to warm himself up, but the high temperatures didn't appear to be helping him at all. He was _still fucking cold_ , and there was a chilliness in his bones that he couldn't shake off.

However, no matter how cold he was on the inside, he realized that staying here this long might not have been the best idea. His bones felt hot to the touch, and there was sweat pouring down his skull. His throat wasn't fairing too well, either. He could only guess that it was probably because of the dry atmosphere.

Sans was also wearing his jacket, even in this heat, because his hood helped disguise his exhausted expression and sickly flush. Not to mention, he kept holding onto the weak idea that it might warm him up somehow. He was starting to feel sort of dizzy, too. Maybe it was the heat? Or was it his fever?

While he was lost in his thoughts, a monster walked past him, and they slowed their pace down ever so slightly as their eyes studied his weak posture suspiciously.

Sans gritted his teeth and forced his magic to rush to his left eye, and a crimson flame engulfed it, giving off a deadly warning. He really couldn't chance any monsters even considering him to be a potential target.

Knowing that a skeleton with a flaming eye was not a good sign, the monster quickly averted his gaze and scurried towards the bridge before Sans could change his mind about not killing them.

Once the monster in question was out of sight, Sans let his murderous expression fall away almost instantly. Another wave of coldness hit him, and he shivered before giving an utterly exhausted sigh. His breath had that sickly hot feel to it, and he felt his eye sockets start to droop close on their own accord. The feverish skeleton quickly snapped them open with a jerk of his head.

 _"can't...fall asleep...here,"_ he drowsily thought as he put his arms on the sentry station and let his head fall on them. _"gonna get myself...killed..."_ he was out like a light.

 

* * *

 

Papyrus found himself walking across Hotland's bridge with a satisfied grin.

The meeting had gone pretty well-no scratch that-great. Undyne had been thoroughly impressed on how prepared he was, and the other Royal Guard members were reminded why he was second-in-command. All things considered it had been a spectacular day. Not to mention, his brother would be at home waiting for him.

Distracted by his thoughts, Papyrus almost missed the black lump passed out in the sentry station.

A white flash of fur caught his eye, and he jerked to a stop. He recognized that jacket.

"Sans?!" His eyes darted left and right for any passing monsters before summoning a wall of bones around him and the station. Only then, did he turn his back and give his full attention to his brother. Papyrus pulled up the hood and, low and behold, there was his brother.

Papyrus gave a low growl, "You fucking idiot!"

In one long stride, he walked behind the station, and he surrounded Sans in his magic before turning him around. The sleeping skeleton's skull slumped forward, chin hitting his clavicle, and his whole posture crumpled as he tipped forward. Papyrus put a firm hand on Sans's shoulder to keep him from falling over, and, upon closer inspection, he could see that his brother's cheekbones were flushed red. His brow bones furrowed in curiosity, and he grabbed his brother's chin with his other hand. Papyrus tilted his face up, so he could see it but nearly let go in his surprise.

There were bags under Sans's eye sockets, and his cheeks were flushed an unhealthy red. Beads of sweat ran down his skull, and the taller could tell that Sans was breathing through his mouth, which caused him to shift his assessing gaze to his brother's nasal aperture. It appeared irritated by the way it was tinted red around the edges, and the bone was slightly inflamed.

"Don't tell me..." His grip on Snas's face tightened, and he gnashed his teeth together in fury. "You better not be sick, you moron!"

Papyrus tried to reassure himself, "No, no. He would've told me." However, as he studied his brother's face, he knew that his assumptions were correct. "Motherfucker! He could've gotten himself killed!" He gave harsh sigh through clenched teeth before letting go of Sans's chin, and he rubbed at his face tiredly. "We're going home. Now. I'll deal with this later."

The gloved hand on Sans's shoulder shifted its way down to his armpit, and the other followed suit. He lifted the smol skele into the air, so he was eye level. Then, Papyrus used his magic to flip him around, and he grabbed a hold of him again. He brought his brother closer to his right side, so Sans's left side was flush with the right side of Papyrus's armor. In one swift motion, he wrapped his right arm around Sans's ribcage, and he let his left arm drop to his side.

The small monster's arms and legs dangled in the air, and his head hung low. Papyrus got rid of the bones surrounding them with a lazy flick of his right hand.

"We are definitely having a talk about this when we get home, Sans," he murmured, a threat evident in his tone. Then, he proceeded to walk back to Snowdin, successfully holding Sans like a basketball.

 

* * *

 

 

He had been getting a lot of weird glances on his way to the house, but a sharp glare in their direction had them cowering in fear and apologizing (much to his satisfaction).

Finally making it to their front door, he opened it and entered the house. Papyrus closed the door with his foot; then, he used his magic to lock it.

Instead of immediately putting Sans down, he levitated a blanket and pillow from his room and dropped the items onto the couch. After that, he used his magic to lift the blanket corner back, and he walked over to the couch and tried to put Sans down.

He picked Sans up with both hands, and he bent down to lay him down. However, as he was pulling away, the sleeping monster reached out and latched onto Papyrus's arm. His eye sockets widened in surprise, and he tried to push his brother away. But the short skeleton stubbornly clung on, and Sans nuzzled his face into his palm with a soft whine.

Pressing his teeth together in an annoyed fashion, he attempted, yet again, to pry his hands off him, but Sans's claws were hooked together like a zipper.

"Nyeh! You never try this hard at anything when you're awake, but _now_ , you make an effort?!" Quickly coming up with a solution, Papyrus sat down on the couch and let his free hand wander underneath his brother's jacket and shirt. His claws trailed over the ridges in his spine, and he lightly scratched the back of his ribs. He felt Sans shiver, not because of his temperature, and he leaned into Papyrus's touch, arching his spine. Hands that were previously in a death lock relaxed, and Sans let them drop limply.

Papyrus smirked, "Works like a charm."

Deciding to stand back up, he removed his hands from underneath Sans's clothes, and said skeleton gave a small whimper at the loss of contact.

"Oh, hush up. I'll be right back, you needy baby bones." Walking towards the kitchen, he headed over to the coffee machine, and he got out a cup and a tea bag. He put the cup under the machine and hit the eight ounces option. Hot water slowly fell down into the cup until it was completely full, and Papyrus put the tea bag into the cup. After it had steeped for a good five minutes, he removed the tea bag and levitated the cup into the air.

With the steaming cup of tea trailing after him, Papyrus walked back into the living room to see Sans sitting up looking very confused.

He spoke up as he walked towards the couch. "Well, look who's up," he drawled.

He made the little round table in the corner of the room float over in front of the couch, and he made the cup land on it as he came to a stop directly in front of Sans, his figure looming over his brother's.

"b-boss!" Papyrus could see the slight twitch of pain in his face as he talked; no doubt from his sore throat. "why a-am i-"

The Royal Guardsman held up a hand as a signal for Sans to stop talking. "Enough." His brother instantly shut up. "You're just going to damage your throat further."

Sans's eye sockets widened in shock. "Yes, Sans, I know that you're sick," he answered the unasked question. His tone got darker, "Did you _really_ think that it was a good idea to go out in the open when you're this weak?"

The smaller skeleton opened his mouth to reply, but the glare that was shot at him had him closing it with an audible click.

"Honestly, Sans are you that much of an idiot? You have ONE FUCKING HP! Not to mention, being out in the heat that long caused you to pass out, damn it! For the love of Asgore, why didn't you just _tell_ me?!" By the end of his mini-rant, Papyrus was breathing heavily, and his glowing red eyes met Sans's, waiting for an answer.

The sick monster wilted under his brother's fierce glare, and he stuttered out his reason, "i-it's just..." The answer just came rushing out of his mouth, "you h-had th-this really big m-meeting, and i-i didn't want y-you t-to worry or-or stay h-home." Sans looked away as he fumbled with the blanket nervously, ignoring the burning in his throat.

Papyrus felt his anger deflate slightly, and the glow in his eyes dimmed as he sighed. "Sans. You have one health point. Some random monster could've easily snuck up on you, and killed you. Besides, even a minor fever like this one could be fatal. Don't you think I deserve to be there incase anything goes wrong?"

Shit. Now he felt guilty. Sans's shoulders sagged in defeat. "'m sorry, boss," he muttered guiltily. "...but-but w-what if i t-told you, a-and you realized t-that this relationship just w-wasn't w-worth the e-effort?" He was sitting up now, and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, refusing to look Papyrus in the eyes, not wanting to see his brother's expressions.

"Oh, Sans." He sat down next to him, and with surprising gentleness, he put his hand on the side of Sans's face, turning it towards his. Sans still refused to look him in the eyes. "C'mon, brother. Look at me." Small, nervous eye lights slowly met his own sockets.

Papyrus leaned forward and gentle placed his mouth on Sans's clammy forehead. There was a quiet "clank" in the the silent room, and he placed his free hand on the other side of Sans's face, making sure his boyfriend didn't shy away.

"I love you." The phrase was murmured against his skull like a promise.

"i l-love you, too." He promised back, and he felt a weight he didn't know he had lifted off his shoulders. "i'm sorry i d-doubted you. b-but that m-meeting w-was really important t-to-" Suddenly, Sans gave a small cough, which quickly turned into violent hacking, and he covered his mouth with his jacket sleeve, turning away from Papyrus.

Papyrus patiently waited for his coughing fit to end before he held out the cup of tea. "Here. It should've cooled down enough by now, so that the temperature won't damage your throat."

Sans looked at the beverage, and he ground his teeth together anxiously.A Ugh. He didn't want to be ungrateful... _but_ , he really hated tea. He cleared his throat (ow) sheepishly, "uh, y-you know me. i-i'm m-more of a mustard k-kinda guy." His throat was hurting as he said that, but oh stars, he could smell the herbal aroma from here. Bleh.

"Sans. It's going to help your throat," Papyrus tried to explain patiently.

His brother's eye lights darted away from him as he stubbornly shook his head.

Papyrus let out an irritated sigh, and he resisted the urge to just force it down his throat. Since his brother obviously didn't know what was good for him, Papyrus would have to resort to other options.

"Must you always make everything so fucking difficult? I only want what's best for you, and I made the tea just for you, brother," he tried again, making his tone softer.

Sans's gaze darted back and forth between Papyrus and the tea. After a moment of internal conflict, he reluctantly grabbed the tea out of his brother's hand.

He shot a halfhearted glare at Papyrus's smug face. "guilt-tripping me isn't fair, boss, and you know it," he mumbled, pouting a bit (not that he'd ever admit it). Sighing reluctantly, Sans took a little sip of the tea, and his face instantly screwed up into a disgusted expression.

"Take a bigger sip than that," Papyrus urged, rolling his eyes.

Bracing himself for the awful taste, Sans clenched his eyes shut, and he took a big gulp. He shuddered as he swallowed it, and then he glared at the tea like it was the bane of his existence.

A hand rested itself on his head, and he immediately leaned into the touch. Papyrus's thumb started rubbing slow circles on the side of his skull, and he could help but let out a contented little sigh.

"Good boy," Papyrus murmured. He hummed before getting up, "I'm going to go make you some soup, and I expect that tea to be gone by the time I come back, understood?"

"yes, boss," he replied resignedly, realizing he wasn't going to win the argument.

Giving Sans one last pat on the head, he went into the kitchen to make the soup.

While his brother was making dinner, Sans set the cup on the table in front of him and grabbed the blanket on his lap. He then proceeded to drape it over his shoulders. The tea was definitely helping his throat, loath as he was to admit it, but he was still chilly.

He sighed. He better get to work on that tea. He situated himself, so that he was holding the blanket in place with one hand and the cup of tea in the other. It still hurt to swallow, but only slightly (nothing he couldn't handle).

Now that he looked more closely, he could tell that the blanket was from his brother's room, and it smelled just like him. He used to never go into Papyrus's room, but since they were dating, he had been visiting his bedroom more and more often. Not for anything sexual (you dirty sinners), but Sans usually went in there if he had a nightmare and wanted some cuddles. Papyrus would never admit to cuddling though.

"Now that wasn't so hard was it?" Papyrus said as he walked back into the room, holding the bowl of soup.

The empty cup (he didn't even realize he had drank it all) was levitated out his hand and into the kitchen sink. A new, full cup was placed onto the table, and Sans held back a groan. Suddenly, the tip of a thermometer was placed on the entrance of his mouth.

"Open."

Sans obediently opened his mouth, and the thermometer was put on his ecto-tongue. He closed his mouth, and waited for the telltale beep to signal that it was done.

After thirty seconds or so, loud, obnoxious beeping rang out, and Papyrus took the thermometer out of his mouth.

"One hundred degrees." He read out loud. "Although, your fever probably broke in Hotland." Papyrus gave a long sigh. "You _will_ tell me when you're feeling sick next time. Is that clear?" he stated, threat evident in his voice.

"y-yes, boss," Sans hastily nodded.

Papyrus eyed the older skeleton's jacket, "Hmph. You're probably cold, aren't you?"

Again, he nodded, but he then let out a shocked yelp as he was levitated into the air. Papyrus grabbed the blanket off the couch, and he wrapped it around Sans's floating figure until all he could see was his brother's head poking out.

Papyrus got behind his brother, and he firmly wrapped his arms around the Sans-burrito. He sat down on the couch with Sans in his lap, and he summoned the bowl of soup towards him. Grabbing the spoon, he carefully scooped some soup into it before blowing on it gently.

He brought it to Sans's mouth. "Open wide," he drawled in a singsongy voice, a cocky smirk in place.

Sans stared disbelievingly at the spoon. "wha-"

The spoon was more or less shoved into his mouth, and Sans blushed scarlet. Papyrus took the utensil out of his mouth, and he dipped it back in the soup, already repeating the embarrassing process. Sans swallowed the soup, and he couldn't help but want more. It was really fucking good. It was just the right temperature, and Sans was already really hungry.

The second-in-command of the Royal Guard blew on the soup, and it seemed like he was going put it in Sans's mouth again; when, suddenly, he stopped.

"What's the magic word?" he cooed, an absolutely evil look on his face.

 _"is this even worth it?"_ Sans wondered, but his grumbling stomach had him answering anyway.

"please," he mumbled ruefully, blush glowing brighter than ever.

Papyrus brought the spoon a little further away from him, and the tantalizing smell just made him hungrier than before. "What was that, Sans? I couldn't quite hear you."

"please, boss," Sans whined out, much louder than before, and his whole face lit up as magic rushed to his face.

"Hmph. You're such a little baby bones," Papyrus stated, amusement evident in his voice, but he fed the soup to Sans, nonetheless.

He choked a little as his blush grew brighter, and he swallowed before hastily denying it. "i-i am not!"

"Of course you are. Look at you; cradled in my arms and having me feed you," he teased, grin growing wider.

"t-that wasn't my c-choice!-"

"Aw, but you like the attention, don't you?" Papyrus mocked, and he reached up to pet Sans on the head as if proving his point.

His natural reaction was to push into the hand that was petting him, but he instantly shied away once he realized that he was only validating Papyrus's statement. Sans tried to struggle out of his brother's hold, but he had a grip of steel. Quickly giving up, he turned his head to the side and glared at wall grumpily.

Papyrus gave a quiet "Nyeh heh heh" before pressing his teeth up against the back of Sans's skull. "I love you, Sans."

Just like that, his irritation and embarrassment melted away, and he gave a little huff before snuggling into Papyrus's arms. "love you more, boss."

The tall monster gave another chuckle, and he used his magic to turn the TV on. Mettaton's overly dramatic show appeared on the screen, and Papyrus continued to feed him and give him some tea. Sans could already feel himself getting better.

"I love you most."

Maybe getting sick wasn't that bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, seriously, why can't my other fic's chapters be this long? Haha, maybe I just want to write fluff for as long as I can until I jump back into my other story. Well, I hope you liked it!


End file.
